ISSN 2375-0863
African Journal of Poultry Farming ISSN 2375-0863 Vol. 5 (4), pp. 185-191, April, 2017. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
A study of the management practices, challenges and prospect of low-cost poultry farming
*Bizimana Murekezi1, Pierre Kabarebe1 and Nikwigize Mihigo2
1Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Mount Kenya University, Thika, Kenya.
2Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Rwanda, Rwanda.
Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted 22 April, 2016
Abstract
A study was conducted on 262 indigenous poultry farmers in Rwanda to assess the current status of low cost village poultry production. Majority of the respondents were male (59%) mainly (70.2%) located in urban and Per-urban areas. The majority (56.9%) had primary education and kept the dwarf type (53.5%) followed by the long legged type (26.9%). Stocking birds were mainly sourced from Neighbors (50.8%) and markets (30%). Free scavenging (67.4%) predominated. Disease management lagged as 41.4% farmers never treated birds and 37.2% used indigenous knowledge. Ectoparasitosis (35.2%) and Diarrhea (34.3%) were the main disease conditions cited. Only 15.7% of farmers reported disease outbreak to veterinarians. Clutch size ranged from 5 to 18 with mean of 13 ± 2 and hen maturity age averaged 7± 2.1 month. Farmers reported periodic high morbidity and mortality among poultry flocks with resultant low productivity and profitability. Predators (42%), diseases (23%), lack of credit (20%) were the main challenges stated.
Key words: Indigenous chicken, characterization, management, production, Rwanda.